Wicht
Hero
Chill Winds – part 1
The chill autumn winds had already begun to blow across the flat Drhokker plains. Summer was truly gone and with it the hot summer sun. The day had been warm enough but with the onset of evening it was clear that the night winds would blow cold.
Dhrokker was a land of horsemen and tall, solidly built Fhokki. But the group that traveled northwards through the steppes on this day were of a different breed. Only one of them was human for one thing and he was of neither Fhokki or Dejy stock. His lineage, if one was to make a guess was Kalamarian, though his hair was blonde not red. A short ways ahead of him walked an elf, slim and dark haired. Behind the human tramped a surly looking dwarf with a shaggy mane of hair and a shaggy brown beard. Another dwarf, slightly better groomed than the first walked a short ways behind him and next to him, barefoot and cheerful walked a slim halfling.
All five of these travelers traveled armed and armored. The elf carried a long bow, the dwarf and the halfling in the rear each carried bows as well, though the dwarf had a powerful looking war-ax and a shield as well. The shaggy dwarf was armed with a huge double bladed ax and a crossbow hung easy on his hips. The human carried a sword at his side, a shield was strapped to his back and the hilt of a smaller blade could be seen nestled into his tall boots.
They had been marching north for about two weeks to meet a mutual friend and the nights had been getting gradually colder. This particular night promised to be the coldest yet.
For the last hour of traveling, the landscape had become slightly less flat and small hills added variety to the steppes. There were few trees and a great amount of grass. They had seen both buffalo and deer during the day, though at a distance. Now as the sky began to darken and the day appeared almost at an end they found themselves in a small valley between two gentle hills, the tops of which were perhaps a mile in distance from one another. To their right, atop the first hill they perceived a great stone monolith, a great rock perhaps, save its sides, seemed square in the light and at its top it formed a perfect angle so that it was more like some tower made by man.
Atop the other hill, to the west, the crumbling ruins of stone houses were clearly silhouetted in the twilight. These testimonies of prior lives and desolate hopes seemed to offer both shelter and warning at the same time.
“What do you think,” said the Elf. It was obvious that they must make camp soon. There would be only about another hour of daylight. And while moving would keep them warm enough, a fire would do much better.
The shaggy dwarf surveyed the hill to the left and the hill to the right.
“I think we should likely camp up in those ruins, but maybe one of us should check out that big stone up there as well.” The dwarf spoke with a harsh and rugged voice and his use of the merchant tongue showed just a trace of an accent. His name was Durunak Gramdal and during the two weeks spent in the company of the other four he had become a sort of unofficial leader.
“I can check out the stone,” said the elf.
“I will go with you,” volunteered the human. His name was Minlion and of the five, he felt himself to be the most out of place.
“That’s fine,” said Durunak in his deep voice, “Me ‘n my cousin will head up and find a place suitable for the night. Get a fire going as well.”
“Don’t forget about me,” chimed in the halfling, “I can help gather wood and stuff.”
Durunak answered with a huff that was either derision or agreement but which message he intended to send was not easily discernable. The elf and Minlion began their trek up towards the monolithic stone and the other three began walking up towards the west.
There was little that could be learned upon reaching the stone. The ground around the stone was dead and barren of life. No grass grew nearer than five feet to the stone and beyond that mark it was another ten feet before the grass grew to any height. The air around the stone was noticeably colder than the air had been in the valley, though whether that was some arcane property of the stone or merely the effect of a greater elevation and a cooler wind was not discernable. But the stone itself was smooth and unmarked and of its purpose neither elf nor man could make anything. Having thus satisfied curiosity, they turned and began the mile walk to the other hill upon which their companions had already began looking for a place to rest.
The ruins had clearly been a village of some sort, though how long it had been deserted was hard to say. No single structure had more than three walls standing and no roof was left on any of the buildings. Any items of value had long since been removed. Durunak quickly found a place to make camp that he felt was suitable, three stout walls encircling an expanse of floor that was relatively free from stones or large rocks. Thus satisfied he and his cousin Zurmak began searching, aided by the small halfling, to gather wood. There were few trees around the ruins but in several places there were bushes of sufficient size to provide fuel and the dried grass of the steppes provided excellent kindling. It was Babaktar, “Bo” to his friends, who first found the footprints. With a holler he alerted the two dwarves who quickly came to investigate.
Durunak stooped upon the ground and examined them closely in the fading light.
“Goblins,” he said after a bit, “Most likely that is.”
With patience he began trying to follow them. As he surveyed the ground around the ruined stone walls, he saw greater and greater signs of small, unshod feet. Finally, with some care he traced many of them to a point about fifty feet away from one of the larger ruined structures. There, in the ground was a wide pit, evidently dug by hands deep, perhaps twenty feet deep, into the earth. The smell rising from the pit was vile, like sewage.
“An old toilet hole, perhaps,” guessed Durunak, “But the goblin tracks all come from here. There is quiet a bit of traffic to and from this pit.” Moving closer to the pit and peering down inside Durunak found what he was expecting to find. Driven into the earth along the wall of the pit were wooden spikes, forming a crude but effective means of easily climbing into and out of the hole. The smell from right up close to the pit was even more unbearable than it had been some feet from the pit. Ignoring the smell and squinting down into the darkness Durunak could make out a small hole dug horizontally into the earth at the very bottom of the pit. There was no doubt in his mind that goblins were dwelling in tunnels underneath the ground here.
“Should we go down there?” asked Bo, standing besides Durunak and holding his nose while he looked down.
Durunak considered the smell and the wisdom of heading down into a goblin hole at night in the middle of nowhere. He looked and measured the distance in his mind to where they had decided to make camp. It was about three or four hundred yards away from the pit.
“No,” said Durunak, “I say leave them alone down there for the moment. We can keep a guard up here to make sure they don’t bother us.”
Having thus decided, the three companions returned back to gathering their wood.
The chill autumn winds had already begun to blow across the flat Drhokker plains. Summer was truly gone and with it the hot summer sun. The day had been warm enough but with the onset of evening it was clear that the night winds would blow cold.
Dhrokker was a land of horsemen and tall, solidly built Fhokki. But the group that traveled northwards through the steppes on this day were of a different breed. Only one of them was human for one thing and he was of neither Fhokki or Dejy stock. His lineage, if one was to make a guess was Kalamarian, though his hair was blonde not red. A short ways ahead of him walked an elf, slim and dark haired. Behind the human tramped a surly looking dwarf with a shaggy mane of hair and a shaggy brown beard. Another dwarf, slightly better groomed than the first walked a short ways behind him and next to him, barefoot and cheerful walked a slim halfling.
All five of these travelers traveled armed and armored. The elf carried a long bow, the dwarf and the halfling in the rear each carried bows as well, though the dwarf had a powerful looking war-ax and a shield as well. The shaggy dwarf was armed with a huge double bladed ax and a crossbow hung easy on his hips. The human carried a sword at his side, a shield was strapped to his back and the hilt of a smaller blade could be seen nestled into his tall boots.
They had been marching north for about two weeks to meet a mutual friend and the nights had been getting gradually colder. This particular night promised to be the coldest yet.
For the last hour of traveling, the landscape had become slightly less flat and small hills added variety to the steppes. There were few trees and a great amount of grass. They had seen both buffalo and deer during the day, though at a distance. Now as the sky began to darken and the day appeared almost at an end they found themselves in a small valley between two gentle hills, the tops of which were perhaps a mile in distance from one another. To their right, atop the first hill they perceived a great stone monolith, a great rock perhaps, save its sides, seemed square in the light and at its top it formed a perfect angle so that it was more like some tower made by man.
Atop the other hill, to the west, the crumbling ruins of stone houses were clearly silhouetted in the twilight. These testimonies of prior lives and desolate hopes seemed to offer both shelter and warning at the same time.
“What do you think,” said the Elf. It was obvious that they must make camp soon. There would be only about another hour of daylight. And while moving would keep them warm enough, a fire would do much better.
The shaggy dwarf surveyed the hill to the left and the hill to the right.
“I think we should likely camp up in those ruins, but maybe one of us should check out that big stone up there as well.” The dwarf spoke with a harsh and rugged voice and his use of the merchant tongue showed just a trace of an accent. His name was Durunak Gramdal and during the two weeks spent in the company of the other four he had become a sort of unofficial leader.
“I can check out the stone,” said the elf.
“I will go with you,” volunteered the human. His name was Minlion and of the five, he felt himself to be the most out of place.
“That’s fine,” said Durunak in his deep voice, “Me ‘n my cousin will head up and find a place suitable for the night. Get a fire going as well.”
“Don’t forget about me,” chimed in the halfling, “I can help gather wood and stuff.”
Durunak answered with a huff that was either derision or agreement but which message he intended to send was not easily discernable. The elf and Minlion began their trek up towards the monolithic stone and the other three began walking up towards the west.
There was little that could be learned upon reaching the stone. The ground around the stone was dead and barren of life. No grass grew nearer than five feet to the stone and beyond that mark it was another ten feet before the grass grew to any height. The air around the stone was noticeably colder than the air had been in the valley, though whether that was some arcane property of the stone or merely the effect of a greater elevation and a cooler wind was not discernable. But the stone itself was smooth and unmarked and of its purpose neither elf nor man could make anything. Having thus satisfied curiosity, they turned and began the mile walk to the other hill upon which their companions had already began looking for a place to rest.
The ruins had clearly been a village of some sort, though how long it had been deserted was hard to say. No single structure had more than three walls standing and no roof was left on any of the buildings. Any items of value had long since been removed. Durunak quickly found a place to make camp that he felt was suitable, three stout walls encircling an expanse of floor that was relatively free from stones or large rocks. Thus satisfied he and his cousin Zurmak began searching, aided by the small halfling, to gather wood. There were few trees around the ruins but in several places there were bushes of sufficient size to provide fuel and the dried grass of the steppes provided excellent kindling. It was Babaktar, “Bo” to his friends, who first found the footprints. With a holler he alerted the two dwarves who quickly came to investigate.
Durunak stooped upon the ground and examined them closely in the fading light.
“Goblins,” he said after a bit, “Most likely that is.”
With patience he began trying to follow them. As he surveyed the ground around the ruined stone walls, he saw greater and greater signs of small, unshod feet. Finally, with some care he traced many of them to a point about fifty feet away from one of the larger ruined structures. There, in the ground was a wide pit, evidently dug by hands deep, perhaps twenty feet deep, into the earth. The smell rising from the pit was vile, like sewage.
“An old toilet hole, perhaps,” guessed Durunak, “But the goblin tracks all come from here. There is quiet a bit of traffic to and from this pit.” Moving closer to the pit and peering down inside Durunak found what he was expecting to find. Driven into the earth along the wall of the pit were wooden spikes, forming a crude but effective means of easily climbing into and out of the hole. The smell from right up close to the pit was even more unbearable than it had been some feet from the pit. Ignoring the smell and squinting down into the darkness Durunak could make out a small hole dug horizontally into the earth at the very bottom of the pit. There was no doubt in his mind that goblins were dwelling in tunnels underneath the ground here.
“Should we go down there?” asked Bo, standing besides Durunak and holding his nose while he looked down.
Durunak considered the smell and the wisdom of heading down into a goblin hole at night in the middle of nowhere. He looked and measured the distance in his mind to where they had decided to make camp. It was about three or four hundred yards away from the pit.
“No,” said Durunak, “I say leave them alone down there for the moment. We can keep a guard up here to make sure they don’t bother us.”
Having thus decided, the three companions returned back to gathering their wood.
?
